The Role of the Individual in Candide

All around the world the roles of the individual and of society are completely abstract. As the world changes and develops, the roles of the individual and society change to meet the needs of the people. Voltaire's Candide which involves France during the Age of Enlightment & Marx & Engels' Communist Manifesto which involves Germany around 1848 both discuss the roles of the individual and of society in different ways. In both pieces of literature what is expected of the individuals and of society is very different from what is presently happening. The Communist Manifesto discusses human nature and social class while Voltaire discusses the flaws of society and the realities that not everything is for the best. In Communist Manifesto, the role of an individual is to be an equal and work towards the greater good of society and the role of society is to provide equality for all people. However in Candide, the role of an individual is to be an individual while the role of society is based upon the society you are living in.

The role of the individual according to Marx and Engels is to be an equal with everyone else in society. “The immediate aim of the Communists is the same as that of all other proletarian parties: Formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat” (Communist Manifesto 13) The Bourgeois are the 0.1% of the population that owns the means of production and The Proletariat are laborers who are 99.9% of the population. Carl Marx states here that the goal of Communism is equality for all. If you overthrow the Bourgeois it insures that power will be balanced because its 99.9% in control now instead it’s 0.1% in control. Marx describes his distaste for how everyone in society is being manipulated by the small percentage in control. Marx goes on to say that “The Bourgeoisie has subjected the country to the rules of the towns. It has created enormous cities, has greatly increased